Electrify Everything!

The current state of the global climate crisis demands that we find a way forward as soon as possible to curb our use of fossil fuels. The present state of technology points to electrification as the quickest and most practical path to achieve this. And fortunately, in the Bay Area, and in California, laws and regulations have already begun to provide the positive structure for us to more easily move to adoption of electric alternatives.

How will this all play out? The panel will discuss what this will look like and what we can do to achieve freedom from carbon-based fuels. We will focus, primarily, on a demand-side strategy, looking at our patterns of use and consumption and suggesting what choices we can make that will help our sustainability.

There are three main categories under consideration: the generation of electricity, our transportation systems, and space and water heating for our homes. According to CARB, for the State of California, in 2015, the transportation sector caused 39% of the State's GHG emissions. The generation of electricity was responsible for 19% of GHG emissions. Residential usage was 6% of the total. We have chosen to look at these categories because of their GHG impact, and because they are the main sources of our personal use of fossil fuels.

The sustainable solutions in these three areas are already available. In some cases, we just have to adopt what is waiting for us. In others, we need to use our voices to move current practice into the sustainable present. Finally, we may need to become early adopters of nascent technology. The future is bright, electric and ready for us now!

Our panelists:

ELENA ENGEL

Elena has been volunteering with 350SF.org for several years to help bring awareness and solutions to the crisis in climate and sustainability that we are facing globally. Her background is in project management, where she has worked mainly on municipal building projects, and also on private residential rebuilds. She holds a LEED AP credential and her interest in the built environment is to make projects as sustainable as possible and to promote zero-carbon energy for buildings.

Amy Sinclair

CleanPowerSF Partnerships at City & County of San Francisco

With over 20 years of experience in public relations, marketing, and strategic communications, Amy Sinclair is proud to serve on the communications and public outreach team for CleanPowerSF.

Amy coordinates the outreach and marketing strategy for CleanPowerSF, including public presentations and events, marketing materials, advertising, website, social media planning and measurement for San Francisco’s growing Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program.

Amy has a BA from the University of California at Davis and an MBA in International Marketing from Golden Gate University. In her spare time, she travels the world and has visited almost 60 countries.

Pierre Delforge

Director of High-Tech Sector Energy Efficiency – Natural Resources Defense Council

Pierre joined NRDC in 2010 after a 20-year career in the high-tech industry. At NRDC, Pierre works on policies to accelerate the clean energy transition in buildings, with a focus on energy efficiency in information technology, miscellaneous plug loads, and on the decarbonization of fossil, gas end uses, such as space and water heating.

MODERATOR

Pat Christianson

Board Director - Events and Marketing - Women in Cleantech and Sustainability

Pat is an Industrial Engineer, with an MBA that fell in love with marketing while working at Nike. Her curiosity had her working on a project on material waste and her passion for sustainability was born! When moving to the Bay she went on to get a Sustainable Design certification thru UC Berkeley and became a LEED AP. In her free time she goes on long walks with her Pharaoh Hound, KanLoo and also teaches yoga for fun!

We thank our Sponsor Silicon Valley Bank!